The role of memory aids in two instructional paradigms: Learning and utilization of logical rules

One hundred and thirty-two 10th graders performed either a conjunetive or biconditional rule task in one of six conditions defined by a 2 (tasks: attribute-identification versus rule-learning) by 3 (memory aids: 0 versus 3 versus 6) factorial design. Learners' attribute-identification was facilitated when six memory aids were made available, especially given the biconditional rule, but not when three aids were available. This effect was attributed to the facilitative role of six memory aids in the process of eliminating irrelevant dimensions. The acquisition of the biconditional rule was a linear function of the number of memory aids; but that of the conjunctive rule was not differentially affected by the memory aids. This interaction was attributed to the facilitative role of memory aids in the formation of a relatively complex one, not in the identification of a familiar, easy one.     

Is there a link between hearing aid use, employment, and income?

This paper examines hearing aid use by 60 congenitally deaf individuals who attended special education units in South Australia. The study indicates that only one-third to half of deaf adults wore their hearing aids in social situations for speech detection. Just over one-third (n = 22) of the deaf adults involved in this study wore their hearing aids at work and less than half (n = 27) wore their hearing aids at home. Younger deaf adults were more likely to wear their hearing aids in the home than older deaf adults. Younger deaf adults tended to wear their hearing aids more frequently when they were at school if they had perceived their teachers had a positive attitude to deafness. This study found that there was no statistically significant relationship between wearing hearing aids and employment status. There was also no statistically significant difference in hearing aid use between men and women. The low use of hearing aids could be attributed at least in part to the current Australian policy regarding supply and servicing of hearing aids to congenitally deaf individuals which ceases to be free after the individual reaches 21 years of age.     

The use of audio-visual aids in intermediate stage schools for girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This paper decribes an investigation into the use of audio-visual aids in teaching in the intermediate stage schools for girls, which are run by the General Presidency for Girls'Eudcation. Questionnaire data were collected and analysed and various factors were found to influence the use/non-use of audio-visual aids. It makes recommendations, which, if adopted, would increase the use of audio-visual aids in Saudi intermediate schools for girls, and stimulate the teaching-learning process.     

The effectiveness of an intervention program on hearing aid maintenance for teenagers and their teachers

The impact of an intervention program on hearing aid functioning and maintenance was evaluated. The program targeted 29 teenagers who wore hearing aids, and 7 of their teachers. Using an A-B-A paradigm, the researcher monitored student and clinician reports on the hearing aids' functioning over a 12-week period that began before intervention and concluded 3 weeks after intervention ended. Pretest and posttest student and teacher questionnaires tapped these two groups' knowledge and attitudes concerning hearing aids. The 6-week intervention comprised theoretical and practical instruction in hearing aid maintenance. The number of functioning hearing aids increased significantly following intervention, and continued to increase even after intervention ended. The gap between student and clinician reports on the functional status of the hearing aids was widest in the study's first stage and narrowest--indeed, negligible--in the third. The questionnaire results indicated that both students and teachers acquired new knowledge. The study findings underscore the need for intervention programs in hearing aid maintenance and their benefits to adolescent students and their teachers.     

高校学生创新资助形式的思考

在高校资助工作的实践中,＂资助＂与＂育人＂的目标存在一定程度的背离。如何实现资助育人的根本目的,是高校资助工作急需解决的问题。以高校资助实践为依据,提出创新资助形式的相关建议与思考。     

Can visual aids in representational illustrations help pupils to solve mathematical word problems more realistically?

We investigated the effect of two visual aids in representational illustrations on pupils’ realistic word problem solving. In part 1 of our study, 288 elementary school pupils received an individual paper-and-pencil task with seven problematic items (P-items) in which realistic considerations need to be made to come to an appropriate reaction. These items were presented together either with representational illustrations, representational illustrations in which an element was added to make the realistic modelling complexity more apparent, or representational illustrations in which this element was cued. In part 2, the pupils received the same P-items together with a realistic and a non-realistic answer option, with the request to choose the best answer. The findings show that there was no positive effect of the visual aids on the number of realistic reactions in part 1 and that when reviewing possible answers to P-items in part 2, there again was no positive effect.     

Individual differences in children's ability to profit from picture adjunct aids

A paired-associate memory task with pictures and words as items was used to categorize fourth graders into four learner types: HH, high picture-high word; HL, high picture-low word; LH, low picture-high word; LL, low picture-low word. Some children in each classification read prose passages with picture adjunct aids; other children read the passages without adjunct aids. Although free recall for the prose passage yielded inconclusive data, a constructed response test for facts in the prose passages revealed significant Aptitude × Treatment interactions, such that poor paired-associate learners (i.e., LLs) profited more than did good paired-associate learners (i.e., HHs) from picture aids on the prose task. The children's standardized reading scores were positively related to memory performance, but good and poor readers did not differ in their ability to profit from picture aids. It was suggested that less-strategic learners, such as those who perform poorly on paired-associate tasks, are more likely to be helped by externally provided mediational aids, while more-strategic learners are more likely to be helped by instructions to generate their own mediational aids.     

Understanding and Enhancing the Use of Multiple External Representations in Chemistry Education

Theories on learning with Multiple External Representations (MER) claim that low prior knowledge learners in science have difficulties using MER, which are seen as necessary to achieve a conceptual understanding. In two experiments, we analyze the mechanisms underlying the learning of chemistry with MER. Our first experiment focuses on how MER can support learning. We found no difference in learning gains of conceptual understanding, regardless of the format (whether MER were provided or not). It is concluded that chemical MER on themself cannot be seen as learning aids. The second experiment compares three types of instructional aids (prompts, prompts with an answer, and note-taking) to determine which types of aids enhance learning with MER. Contrary to the findings of Seufert (Learn Instr 13:227?C237, 2003), path-analysis suggests that the lowest prior knowledge group benefits the most from instructional aids such as prompts and note-taking. These aids guide learners?? attention towards one specific representational format (symbols), while other formats (submicroscopic representations) receive less attention.     

运用学具促使数学学习困难生转化的研究

数学学习困难生的转化是数学教学中的老大难问题，而提高困难生的主体参与意识是实现转化的关键，学具的运用有效的提高了学生的主体参与意识，利用学具可进行有效的基本技能训练，学具是解决学生学习困难症结的有效工具；利用学具进行考核可使评价产生的激励作用，学具教学活动增强了学生的合作意识。     

Audio-Visual Material in the Gävle Region

When the Grundskola was started in 1962 research was carried out in the town of Gävle (where the author of this article is working) to ascertain the needs for audio-visual aids in the new compulsory schools. The provision of audio-visual aids in the new compulsory schools. The provision of audio-visual aids in these newly-built schools was made according to the principle of a 50 percent state subsidy, with a maximum of 2000 Swedish kronors for each classroom or subject room.     

预防艾滋病教师教育网络课程的应然特点分析

师资严重缺乏一直是我国预防艾滋病教育取得实效的瓶颈。要解决预防艾滋病教育工作的任务艰巨性与师资严重不足的矛盾,同时发挥网络教育的优势,开发预防艾滋病教师教育网络课程十分必要,现实意义重大。预防艾滋病教师教育网络课程兼具预防艾滋病教育课程、教师教育课程和网络课程三者的特点,整合起来就是应具备以学习者为本、指向目的的实践性、内容的综合性、形式的多样化与生动性、广域的人—人交互性、生成性与创新性6个主要特点。     

Assessing the Impact of Testing Aids on Post-Secondary Student Performance: A Meta-Analytic Investigation

Testing aids, including student-prepared testing aids (a.k.a., cheat sheets or crib notes) and open-textbook exams, are common practice in post-secondary assessment. There is a considerable amount of published research that discusses and investigates the impact of these testing aids. However, the findings of this research are contradictory and inconclusive. The current meta-analytic investigation provides a general measure of the impact of both student-prepared testing aids and the use of open-textbook exams on student exam performance in post-secondary education, while examining variables that may moderate the effects of testing aids on student exam performance. The results indicate that, overall, testing aids can produce a moderate impact on student exam performance, with student-prepared testing aids associated with a larger effect (d=.402) relative to open-textbook exams (d = 0.257). The results are discussed in terms of their implications for college course instructors and for informing the broader debate about the role of testing aids in long-term student learning and mastery of course material.     

Weather observers: a manipulative augmented reality system for weather simulations at home,in the classroom,and at a museum

This study focused on how to enhance the interactivity and usefulness of augmented reality (AR) by integrating manipulative interactive tools with a real-world environment. A manipulative AR (MAR) system, which included 3D interactive models and manipulative aids, was designed and developed to teach the unit “Understanding Weather” in a natural science course, and to bridge a formal learning environment (i.e. school), non-formal (i.e. at a museum), and informal learning environments (i.e. home). Sixty-four sixth-grade students (12–13 years old) from four classes in Taipei City were enrolled in a seven-week general studies course entitled “Natural and Life Science and Technology”, and they were divided into an experimental group (31 students who used the MAR system) and a control group (33 students who used multimedia teaching resources). After seven weeks of experiments, the results revealed that integrating the MAR system into inquiry-based field study made a greater positive impact on the students' academic achievement and motivation compared to the multimedia teaching resources installed on a tablet PC. Additionally, there were two interesting findings: (1) the MAR system offered effective learning materials relative to the multimedia teaching resources and (2) manipulative aids were an effective learning tool for interactivity and usefulness of AR. Besides, there were two meaningful suggestions associated with designing and developing the AR educational system for future researchers and designers, namely make it easy to use and include manipulative aids.     

A Study of Context,Content, and Meaning in School Board Deliberations

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of different levels of mediational aids on a paired associate task when presented to sixth-grade students for amount and rate of original learning and long term retention. Three levels of strategies were employed. High level mediational aids were found to significantly effect the amount and rate of original learning; the retention data also suggest similar inferences.     

Effects of tactile training on visual speechreading: performance changes related to individual differences in cognitive skills

We report on a follow-up study of the R?nnberg, Andersson, Lyxell, & Spens (1998) speech tracking training study. The purpose was to examine, initially and after training, the effects of different tactile aids on tasks of visual speechreading. We also examined cognitive prerequisites for initial baseline speechreading and posttraining speechreading performance. Compared with speechreading alone, tactile aids impaired sentence-based speechreading at first, although performance improved with training. No effects of vibrotactile aids or training were obtained for visual word-decoding. Initial baseline speechreading performance and posttraining performance correlated with cognitive skills, but the size of the correlations changed. The size of the correlations also varied with the different tactually mediated speechreading conditions.     

Structural enhancement of learning

Structural learning aids, such as interactive overviews (IOs), have previously been shown to facilitate text comprehension and recall. In this study, we examined the effects of structural aids on learners’ structural knowledge and their performance on a procedural transfer task. In Experiment 1, 90 college students were presented definitions of computer programming concepts in an IO that was structured alphabetically, randomly, or in accordance with experts’ structural knowledge. Learning was assessed by examining students’ acquired knowledge structures and performance on a procedural transfer task that required integration and elaboration of the learned material in ways that went beyond the strictly definitional information provided during training. Students taught with the expert-structured IO acquired better knowledge structures and performed better on the transfer task than those using the other IOs. Experiment 2, utilizing 101 college students, showed that the visible structure, rather than the navigational constraints, of the expert IO was largely responsible for this advantage.     

中学物理教学演示实验自制教具的实践探究

演示实验的设计、教具的制作和实验教学的方法是当前中学物理实验教学较为活跃的研究课题.本文就选取几个演示实验的自制教具,如何设计演示实验、自制教具谈谈自己的认识.     

体育游戏可作为灾后学生心理援助手段的研究

汶川大地震已经过去一段时间了,但是大量的心理专家、专业心理咨询人员仍然活跃在灾区一线,继续对灾区学生进行心理援助．为了今后一段时期对灾区中小学生的心理救助更科学、更有效．文章拟从体育游戏的角度,分析在灾后校园体育课中运用体育游戏对学生进行心理救助的可行性,旨在为积极有效地进行灾后心理危机援助提供可行的有益参考．     

学具教具任重而道远

作为立体化教材、教育资源重要组成部分的学具教具不同与其他产品，它是与青少年健康成长，与为国家培养新世纪建设者密切相关的特殊商品。从全面推进素质教育和目前学具教具行业存在的问题出发，就学具教具的质量体系建设，市场管理规范，服务与培训工作、教研与课题建设等方面提出了有关学具教具研发、管理、服务的几点建议。